1. Dancer :: Tiny
2. Intellectual :: Symposium
3. Direct :: Buy
4. Tolerate :: a lot
5. Post :: haste
6. Instinctive:: reaction
7. Brink :: of death
8. Regain :: consciousness
9. Repulsed :: by..
10. Distressed :: diseased

popularity: 15%

Today has been a long day. Thankfully, it is almost over, at least the working part of it. Nothing remarkable at all happened today. Many unremarkable things did, but you shouldn’t have to suffer through that. Read two chapters in my Dreamweaver book - that’s a little too much to do at once. Not because I don’t understand it, but because it’s just boring. I haven’t learned anything profound yet, and though I have gotten a few things fixed in my setup so it’s easier to use and works the way I want it to, there are still some quirks that I have yet to figure out. Oh well. I’m only halfway through.

I have decided that men should not be allowed to get perms. It’s never good.

I have also decided that is dumb, and my next cat needs to be smart.

No one is coming in to work tomorrow. That might be a slight exaggeration. Almost no one. And… this means my boredom will only be compounded. It’d be excellent if I had a project to work on - no interruptions. But, alas, that is not the case. I have a few piddly little tasks. I’ve been trying to figure out an alternative format for our manual, but Word is a bastard and I just don’t think it’s going to work. At least not the way I want it to.

I would tell you all a story to entertain you, but I don’t have any. Wait, yes I do. I can tell you a story that my co-worker told me today. It was hilarious then, but I don’t think the re-telling will do it justice.

So, when D was a kid, his parents once gave each of their children 50 cents at the grocery store, assuming they would spend it on candy. But no, D and his sister ended up next door at the pet store, and came back with a duck.

That’s right, a duck.

And his parents let them keep it. His dad even built a little cage for it.

Can you imagine? Thinking your kid was coming back with a recipe for a sugar coma, and instead getting… a duck?

I wish I had stories like that from my childhood. But I don’t. One time I tried to chew all 5 pieces of Grape Bubbaliccious. I couldn’t. 4, yes, but 5 was just too much. I used to be able to do some cool things on the bar part of the jungle gym, but no more. Now I am too tall, and too old, and much too afraid of breaking myself.

popularity: 41%

I’m terribly bored today at work. While out for coffee, I read one of the signs our building management has put up regarding the upcoming restoration, and noticed something wonderful: my building blogs. That’s right, the building I work in has a blog. It’s not a wonderful blog. In fact, there are only 6 posts. But it was still an amusing thing to come across. I wish there was more information there, if only because otherwise I have to… file, or read my Dreamweaver book, or… dust. I’m not really sure how I’m going to occupy myself today.

popularity: 19%

Just Pull the Troops Out and Throw the Rest Away

Guy: Man, sandwiches are good.
Chick: You know, like, sandwiches are the best thing since ‘Nam.

–Deli, 120th & Amsterdam

via Overheard in New York, May 24, 2007

I read that and thought of you.

popularity: 11%

To drive me completely insane, that is. Whoever decided that all summer broadcast programming should be dedicated to reality television [link removed] should be shot. I detest reality television. Game shows are tolerable in small quantities, and that’s about it. The news doesn’t count. The rest of it… yech. And yet there are about a billion new shows this summer, all of them promising to suck. Seriously, do any of those options sound good? Read through the article. And if the new shows weren’t enough, a whole bunch of last year’s are coming back again. Glad I have cable, since clearly the broadcast networks no longer want my love.

popularity: 18%

Action 037: What do you REALLY want to do today?

Today, I would really like to… stay at home in bed and watch chick flicks while having food (never-ending hot cocoa, popcorn, something substantial for lunch) delivered to my bed (I could care less who is delivering this food, just so I don’t have to get out of my cocoon of laziness). I’m not depressed, it just seems like the right thing to do on a rainy day like today. Were it warmer, I’d just go outside and dance in the rain all day, but it’s not.

popularity: 16%

I did something today I almost never do. I drove. A car. As if that weren’t extraordinary enough, it was during morning rush hour on major highways, and then on the way back there was rain. Thankfully, I didn’t hang back at the meeting, because people who left after I did have major hail damage to their cars. It’s a state car, not my own car, but I’m still glad I don’t have that hassle. It goes without saying that driving in hail would probably have been too much for me to handle. I was a little shaky about the whole deal. I’m glad that it didn’t rain this morning. Next month’s meeting isn’t at our regular place either, but it’s in St Paul right on the bus route, so I don’t think I’ll be borrowing a car again.

The rest of the afternoon has been unremarkable. Tonight I’ll try to work on more of the hysterical historical stuff I’ve found while cleaning, and let y’all know when I’m done. There’s a lot more than I originally thought, so it might take a while. Can’t promise it’ll be worth the wait, but it’s nice for me to reminisce. Ah, 1999.

And for even more sentimentality, we’re going to my old church this weekend! There won’t be that many people there because it’s a holiday weekend, but there’ll still be some people to catch up with and show off my ring, I mean, my boy. It’s been two years - I wonder how big some of the kids have gotten, especially the boys. They grow fast! It’ll be good to see their faces again. Almost a complete staff turnover since I left, too. Interesting. Same with the church-that-shall-remain-nameless. Entirely new staff, still haven’t been able to keep anyone in the position I was fired from. The more time goes on, the more I realize I was delivered from that situation that was clearly “not right.” Painful, yes, but I think I’m a better person for it, even if it did take me a really long time to get here.

But, to end things on a happier note… I have made major progress in cleaning my house. To the untrained eye, it might not look that way, but it’s true. I’ve got stuff that can go to ’s for storage, and as soon as we find a place to live (and a time to live there) and a storage unit nearby, I’ve got stuff ready to go there too. Sadly, my vacuuming progress has not been that good. I’ve made it about halfway down the hallway now. I did my room and the front room, and then the filter clogged and the battery died. Then I got a quarter down the hallway before it happened again. Last night I made it to the halfway point before my SwifferVac wheezed its protest. Wimpy little thing, but sure beats vacuuming. What am I tackling tonight? I have no idea. I was going to finish painting my bedside table, but the thunderstorm has put a crimp in that plan (I was going to say “put a damper in that,” but I thought it was too corny). So… maybe I’ll just lay in bed and listen to the rain. Or … I dunno. But home I go. I was at work early today, so my time is done!

popularity: 16%

Tonight, I got a craving for ice cream, so I decided to go out and find some. It’s a short walk to the corner of Selby and Dale that gave me two options: the co-op and the “mart.” It was dusk, and it has been sprinkling all night, enough so that it smells like rain, tastes like rain, feels like rain outside, but I didn’t get drenched. I had no where to be and was in no rush, so my pace was slow. My neighborhood was relatively quiet. A breeze blew over my dampened skin. I felt… alive. It felt so luxurious, really, to be out and about on a silly trip to get ice cream. Shouldn’t there be something else more important to do? But no, there isn’t. My house will never really be clean, and I have no homework until the fall semester starts. But I’ve discovered something: I’m not so good at sitting still anymore. I used to be great at lazing about, taking mid-afternoon naps, laying in bed and watching TV for hours on end. Now my idea of being lazy is reading a book while watching television and doing a load of laundry. When did that happen? (I’m sure there are people who know me who could argue that I am still, at times, very good at being lazy and relaxing, and they’re right. I’m just not as good at it as I used to be. Just like I’m not as good at sleeping in as I used to be. Or doing cartwheels. I think it’s called aging.)

What did I get? Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it’ll do. Wonder what my dentist would say about that (the one who filled two cavities this morning). He probably wouldn’t care, as long as I flossed, brushed, and rinsed with fluoride afterwards. Dental hygiene is currently very important to me.

While cleaning tonight, I found some great sentimental journal-type stuff that I’ll be posting in the next few days for entertainment’s sake. Hope you enjoy!

popularity: 11%

1. Coastguard :: Beach
2. Buddies :: Good
3. Nap :: Yawn
4. Groan :: Sigh
5. Sitcom :: Humor
6. Reader :: ’s Digest
7. Heroes :: Monday
8. Amazing :: Race
9. Woman :: Man
10. Don’t! :: Touch!

popularity: 14%

1. Sleep: Where is the most unusual place you’ve fallen asleep? I can sleep pretty much anywhere I want to, so if I tried, I could probably have a really great answer for this. But, I’m going to have to say… in the middle of a French exam. In high school, I spent a lot of time sleeping through various classes. One day in French class I was really tired, and put my head down on my desk, and woke up about 15 minutes later. Of course, we were taking a test at the time, and so I picked up my pencil and finished taking the test. As I recall, I didn’t do poorly on the exam.
2. Guns: Do you think blind people should be issued concealed weapons permits or be allowed to own guns? I’m opposing this question on matters of discrimination on people with disabilities. It seems… well, I could easily come up with an answer, but since I’m at work for a state agency that works with people with disabilities, it seems wrong.
3. Driving: Taking into consideration errands and the drive to and from work, how many miles do you drive each weekday? Zero. Even when I did have a car, it was probably only around 5, since most days I didn’t drive at all, and then Wednesdays and Sundays I drove to church and back, which was a pretty long drive.
4. Packing: When do you pack for a trip (the day of, the night before, or earlier)? The majority of my packing gets done the night before. Usually, there’s a small pile that starts earlier than that, things I want to make sure I don’t forget. That happens with my backpack that I take to ’s house on weekends - sometimes during the week I run across things I need to bring (like the thing I bought for him this week - I’d tell you what it is, but then he’d find out), so they get thrown in there. But all my clothes get picked out late Thursday night.

popularity: 26%

Well, truthfully, it is a gorgeous day outside. However, I am inside at work, and don’t really want to be here today. It’s going to be a long day. I’ve been doing great with work all week, and then today hit and… I dunno. Bored and unmotivated.

However, just now, outside of Macy’s, an old man told me I was beautiful. I smiled politely and thanked him. Don’t hear that very often - I doubt anyone does. Except maybe Angelina Jolie. She probably hears a leveling amount of criticism though, too. And really, would you want to hear that all the time? Wouldn’t it cease to have meaning? I didn’t mean it to sound like a complaint. I happen to run into people every now and then who have set “making others smile” as their life goal. One of the guards at the info desk in our building is that way - first time I walk past him in a day, it’s smile and hello. Then every time after that, it’s “that’s a beautiful sweater,” or “enjoy your snack,” or “I really like those earrings.” It’s very sweet, and without fail it makes me smile. Of course, I don’t walk past him very often right now because I try to spend as much time outside, which means not taking the escalator short-cut

My hair feels really nice today. Which probably means that it looks like crap. But it feels really nice. (Had a haircut yesterday.) On my way home, I realized that while I’d had a dentist appointment, gone to work, gotten my hair cut, and done my grocery shopping, at no point in the day had I been more than 2 miles from my house. Which brought my thoughts in parallel with…

“Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, not small, but valuable. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven’t been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around? I don’t really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void.” -You’ve Got Mail

That was much more poignant last night, I promise. It doesn’t seem as deep of a thought in the daylight hours. C’est la vie.

I need a project at work. I could make one up, if only I could think of something that needs doing.

popularity: 26%

If you’ve got a few minutes, that is, since the article’s a little bit long and while it’s not full of big words, it’s not a light read either. But what did you expect from Psychology Today?

popularity: 12%

Action 030

What would you do if you won the lottery? (let’s assume it is a BIG amount of money)

(FYI, just got a phone call, wrong number - I was supposed to be AARP this time, which is a big change from the usual unemployment mis-dials.)

After paying off my debt, my school loans, and the school loans of anyone I like, and maybe the rest of ’s mortgage (which is ridiculously small), and making sure the wedding was taken care of, and setting aside enough money for my future schooling… if it’s a BIG amount of money, there’s still plenty leftover, right? So… I’m not sure. Three or four years ago, I could have told you exactly what I would have wanted to do with it. If, for the purpose of this meme, we’re talking about “making life better,” and I’m assuming that’s probably supposed to be in more of a global sense than just my tiny world… then I really don’t know. Here’s what I do know. I would like to teach in an inner-city school. I think that contributes to the greater good in an important way. The faster I can complete my schooling, the better, in that sense. So, it would be fortuitous of me to quit my job, if I had large sums of money at my disposal, and go to school full-time. Unfortunately, I don’t think even those plans would consume a BIG amount of money. So… I’ll set up college tuition funds for my nephew (and as-of-yet-not-conceived additional nephews and nieces), and put the rest in some sort of savings for any children that might want to call me something close to mom.

Oh, and I’m going out to dinner with all my friends, and maybe some acquaintances too, since my friends aren’t that numerous.

popularity: 17%

Anyone wanna guess how many cavities I have? I’ll give you a hint: I broke my own record for most cavities.

No one?

Well, back in June 2003, I spent four Wednesday mornings getting 9 cavities filled at Metro Dentalcare. I currently have five 1-hour appointments scheduled over the next 4 weeks to have 10 cavities filled.

Aren’t I special?

The only thing he suggested was 1) go get a fluoride rinse and use it daily, and 2) schedule a 6-month cleaning.

He never asked, “do you have a sweet tooth?” He never said, “clearly, you drink too much Coke and it’s staining your teeth.” Just… fluoride rinse. I suppose that’s good, though seeing as how I am not yet 30 and will have almost as many fillings as my years, perhaps it is time to think about eating things that don’t damage my teeth. Just a thought.

Or, maybe I just have crappy teeth and there’s nothing I can do about it.

My teeth are now all pretty and shiny and smooth, though my mouth tastes really gross. I didn’t know this, but I’m a bleeder. Yep. Lots of blood. My new filling from last week really likes to bleed when I floss near it. And I might need to take some ibuprofen, because having my teeth cleaned wasn’t exactly painless since it had been so long.

Other thoughts…

I did not clean the fridge last night. I did, however, run the dishwasher twice. Twice. Were they my dishes? No. Ask me if any of my roommates offered to unload the dishwasher. Yeah, right. Tonight, if I get motivated, I’m putting on my rubber gloves and sterilizing the fridge. Or maybe I’ll wait until next week. We’ll see. My room is cleaner, though. I dusted. I vacuumed. I cleaned ’s food area. I even read a book. Not a bad night.

I’m gonna go find some Advil. You should go brush your teeth. Because everyone should. Dental health is very important.

popularity: 15%

My final exam (that I took yesterday morning) has been graded and is posted online. (Thank goodness I obsessively checked this morning!) I got a 98/100! That means I got 602/600 points in the class. How awesome am I? I also got 25/25 on last week’s Tuesday night quiz, and knew several of the extra credit questions on last night’s exam. So unless I totally bombed my online exam, I have high A’s in all three classes.

In other good news, I am very glad the semester is over. I think three classes is just too much. Towards the end of the semester, I was having a hard time getting to sleep at a decent hour (and since I consider “decent” sometime between midnight and 12:30, you can imagine…), and consequently waking up was getting more difficult (you’d be tired too if you didn’t fall asleep until 1:30). But the last two nights, I’ve gone to bed earlier, and have found it even easier to wake up. It’s quite nice.

So, I think my goal for the fall semester is 2 classes: one night class and one online, which should be totally do-able. Now I just have to figure out what to take…. I’m saving macro/micro economics for the spring. I don’t think I can afford to miss any classes for that subject, since it generally escapes my understanding and it will be a struggle. Let’s not make it any harder by trying to get married and honeymoon and move and live together with someone.

I’m wearing a new sweater today - one I knit myself. I finally got the finishing touches done this week, and decided it needed to make a public appearance. My co-worker meant to comment on it, but I pre-empted him by telling him I made it, so he decided to tell me he liked it. For once, he had some social graces, though I have no doubt that if it were absolutely hideous, he would tell me.

Back to work.

popularity: 21%